A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or may contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates in general to a gaming device, and more particularly to a game in a gaming device in which a player picks selections to obtain gaming device awards until no selections remain or until a termination variable ends the game.
In gaming machines, the games must come to an end. In a slot machine game, the game ends when the reels stop and the gaming device analyzes the symbol positions to determine if one or more winning outcomes exist. In a poker game, the game randomly deals cards, the player has one or more opportunities to randomly generate one or more new cards and the player wins or loses based on the final combination of cards. In blackjack, the player""s card values add until the player""s hand beats the dealer""s hand, loses to the dealer""s hand or busts.
In each of these well known games, the game ends after a number of random generations. In slot, the game ends after one random generation. In poker, the game ends after one, two or more random generations, depending on the type of poker game. In blackjack, the number of generations varies, but has a limit; namely, the number accumulates until the card denominations add to a desired number or exceed twenty one.
Known bonus games employ a plurality of game ending strategies. One known strategy is a do-until sequence, in which the player picks until picking a bonus terminator. European Patent Application No. EP 0 945 837 A2, filed on Mar. 18, 1999, and assigned on its face to WMS Gaming, Inc., discloses a bonus game in which a player has one or more opportunities to select masked bonus awards. When the player selects a masked award, the game reveals the selection and provides the award to the player. The player selects until selecting a game terminator.
Another known bonus game ending strategy includes letting the player decide whether to end the game with a particular result or trade results with the hope of obtaining a higher award. The TOP DOLLAR(trademark) gaming device, which is manufactured and distributed by the assignee of this application, provides the player with three offers and a final award. When an offer is given, the player may accept or reject it. If the player accepts an offer, the player receives the accepted bonus amount and the bonus round terminates. If the player declines an offer, the game generates another offer for the player, which may be a higher or lower award. The game is similar to poker, wherein the player has a limited opportunity to better an outcome.
In each of the foregoing games, the game ends upon a limited number of random generations or upon a result of the random generations. In an effort to create a more entertaining and exciting game, a need exists to create new apparatus and methods for ending a game and combine these with the known methods described above.
The present invention provides a gaming device and in particular a primary or bonus game of a gaming device that enables players to accumulate awards until there is no more awards or until one or more termination variables reaches a predetermined limit. The gaming device includes at least one random generation device that generates awards upon a player input. The gaming device also includes one or more termination variables, each defined by a plurality of units, whereby one of the random generation devices generates an amount of units upon a player input. The termination variables each have an associated termination limit of accumulated or lost termination units, whereby a player generates awards until reaching the termination limit. The termination limit may be reached by accumulating or losing the units.
The gaming device preferably includes a plurality of termination variables, wherein each has its own termination limit of units. The game thereby enables the player to generate awards until the first of said variables reaches its termination limit of units.
The gaming device provides a number of selectors, displays them to the player and generates an award for the player when the player picks a selector. The game preferably simultaneously displays each of the selectors to the player. The game enables the player to generate awards until reaching a termination limit of units (as mentioned above) or until no unpicked selectors remain, whichever occurs first. In one embodiment, the game picks the first selector for the player. In another embodiment, the player picks the first selector.
The gaming device of the present invention is adapted to randomly assign units or a number of units for one or more of the termination variables to each selector, whereby a player receives the assigned units upon picking a selector. The gaming device is also adapted to include a pick order, wherein the game randomly assigns units or a number of units to each pick of the order, and whereby a player receives the assigned units based on which pick of the order the player makes.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the gaming device also generates survival units associated with a termination variable that counteract the units towards the termination limit of said termination variable. The game preferably randomly generates the survival units upon a player""s pick of a selector. The game may be adapted to randomly assign survival units or a number of survival units to each selector, whereby a player receives the assigned survival units upon picking a selector. The game is alternatively adaptable to randomly assign a number of survival units to a pick of an order, whereby a player receives the assigned survival units based on which pick of the order that the player makes. The game also enables the player to exchange at least one gaming device award for at least one survival unit.
In one embodiment, the game also provides a selector order, whereby a player must pick at least one selector before picking at least one other selector. The present invention is adapted so that one of the selectors, and preferably the final selector of an order, has an associated jackpot award. Another embodiment of the game includes at least one set of selectors, wherein the game only enables the player to pick a predetermined proportion of the selectors in a set. The game in a further embodiment diverts the player, upon a player""s pick, to pick a different selector than the picked selector. The gaming device alternatively diverts the player to a different predetermined selector.
In a multistage embodiment of the present invention, the player plays a stage of the game and advances by selecting a jackpot, surviving a number of selections or advancing to the end of a path. The player otherwise terminates the game by reaching a termination limit of units of one of the termination variables. Each stage is adapted to have a jackpot award at the end or to simply advance the player. After a predetermined number of stages, the game ends and optionally provides a final jackpot award.
The multistage embodiment includes randomly generating the advance to a subsequent stage or jackpot, such that the game can conceivably generate the advance or jackpot on the first pick of a stage. Alternatively, the player is required to advance along a certain predetermined path or survive a predetermined number of picks. The common element in each multistage implementation is that the player plays against the termination variables, which tend towards game termination with each pick of a selector.
It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to provide a gaming device in which a player continues to pick selectors for gaming device awards until no unpicked selectors remain or until a termination variable ends the game.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, elements, components, steps and processes.